All About Pocket Knives

I have been wondering if anyone else on this forum is interested in herbs. I know that there is the All About Vegetation, House Plants, Gardens, Trees ect. thread, but I decided to post something a little more focused. I am no expert, or master herb grower, but I do usually have a few common herbs growing somewhere around my backyard. Right now I have Rosemary, Sage, Oregano, Basil, and Spearmint. Those are all in the mint family. I also have Parsley, Garlic Chives, and Green Onions. I actually use the Rosemary, Sage, and Parsley in my cooking. The others not so much. I do like to top my soup with chopped Onion or Garlic Chives. So that is five that I actually eat. But for me the real pleasure of herbs is the smell. Fragrance, if you will. I consider that our sense of smell is the least used of our senses, but it is just as real as the other senses. When I am walking around in my little garden, or back yard if you prefer, I always pinch a leaf or two off of a couple of herbs and just inhale the aroma of the crushed leaves. Parsley has a bitter odor, as befits an herb that is special to death and the Devil. Sage and Rosemary ... they smell like Sage and Rosemary: not sure how to describe them. Spearmint is the epitome of mint fragrance. Catnip is also a classic mint aroma. The cats love licking my fingers after I have crushed a Catnip leaf. Here are a few photos of my Herb area. If any of you fellows grow herbs, I would like to see how you do it.

My favorite locations for Herbs is along the East and South walls of our house. Here is the East wall with some rampant Parsley plants along with several smaller plants. Here is the South wall with Rosemary, Sage, and Garlic Chives. I have some wild herbs elsewhere in my garden, but I will put some of those in another post. If anyone looks at this post, anyway. I tend to think of growing herbs as being an old man's pastime. I am an old man and I know that some of you are as well, so I am hoping to get a few photos of your gardens.

Very interesting post, Mel! If you like to tickle your olfactory sense, try growing some Lemon Balm. I have had a few plants along the side of my house for years. Like you, I love to pluck a leaf or two and enjoy the smell after I crush them. I also do the same with some wild mint plants that I transplanted years ago. My Grandmother always had Dill and Rosemary growing on the East side of her house. The scent of Dill is another favorite of mine.

We have a lot of rosemary growing as groundcover and use it frequently in cooking. A log of rolled rosemary makes a great basting brush for steaks too. Next we have plenty of chives and green onions that also are used several times per week. Thyme does just ok. The cilantro went to seed so that needs to be restarted.

Great post, Mel.
When my Susan was with me I would grow herbs, much the same as you describe in your comments.
Thyme and Sage and other interesting herbs that I don't recall now. It was fun.
I built and elevated box to grow them in. Since she is gone I don't cook as I used to so that routine has come to an end.
Truly, much of what I did there wasn't as successful as I would have liked much to my own lack of passion for it, however I did enjoy it at the time.

Thanks for the kind words, fellows.

Ike - I have been meaning to try growing Dill, just have not got around to it yet. For many years I had a patch of wild Mountain Mint, which smells very minty. It died off one year and I have not got around to replanting it.

Jeepergeo - I will try to remember to use some Rosemary for a basting brush: I have plenty. This time of year I use Garlic Chives and Green Onions a few times a week. I chop them and put one or the other on top of my soup. (I eat soup for lunch a few days a week.)

Joe - a lot of stuff I try to grow is not as successful as I would like. One reason I grow herbs is that I have not been successful with vegetables. Thyme does not like it in my garden. I have one Thyme plant, and the best I can say is that is is not dead. This spring I planted some Horehound and Chamomile and other seeds. They sprouted, but did not last long.

Garlic Chives are a great herb to grow, at least in the shady areas of my back yard. I planted some Garlic Chives about ten years ago, and the clumps are still thriving amid all the other ground cover. I just forgot they were there for years, then one day I noticed that they still looked and tasted good. The leaves are bigger than regular Chives, and they have a flat cross section instead of being hollow. They do have a garlic flavor. I like to top my soup with chopped Garlic Chives or Green Onions: today it was the chives, tomorrow probably onions. When I am out gathering herbs, I try not to disturb anyone who is having a private moment. I always like seeing Box Turtles in my garden, looks like there may be a few more next year.

It has been a bit over a year since I posted in this thread. Today is St John's Day, June 24. In the middle ages St John's Wort was thought to have protective powers against evil, especially if gathered on his day. A tea made with St John's Wort is supposed to be therapeutic.

I grow St Andrew's Cross in my garden. It is a variety of St John's Wort that is native to the Piney Woods of my state. I have tried the tea and find it very weak and not very tasty. However, having the plants in my garden has proven effective at keeping incorporeal evil away.

St Andrew's Cross is nothing much to look at: just a straggly perennial tucked in among the other semi wild herbs and weeds. Unlike my favorite herbs, the plant has no fragrance, not even the flowers. And like I said above, the flavor is not very nice either. I have read that June 24 has also been called Midsummer Day. As with Christmas and New Year, the date should be on the Solstice, but due to the vagaries of our calendars over the centuries the dates became different. Just as a nod to ancient tradition I will gather some St Andrew's Cross today.

Interesting post, Mel, thanks for sharing.

I read your note on incorporeal evil and my mind jumped to that CCR song with the phrase "chasin' down a hoodoo there".......will be stuck in my head the rest of the night.

A good friend of mine just sent me a picture of some Holy Basil that he was growing. He said that it makes a good tea. That was all new to me, so I looked it up, some interesting info on that plant. Are you familiar with it? Evidently, it has reached "weed status" in some parts of the south

Waukonda wrote: ↑Fri Jun 26, 2026 1:26 am A good friend of mine just sent me a picture of some Holy Basil that he was growing. He said that it makes a good tea. That was all new to me, so I looked it up, some interesting info on that plant. Are you familiar with it? Evidently, it has reached "weed status" in some parts of the south

Ike - I had to look up Holy Basil. If it has made it to my area I have not seen it. I do have Sweet Basil and Mammoth Basil. The Mammoth Basil leaves are good on a sandwich. The only thing I do with Sweet Basil is savor the fragrance. I note that Holy Basil seeds are available, maybe I will add a packet to my next Amazon order.

Regarding the incorporeal evil: one of the things I like about herbs is the folklore, or superstition if you prefer, about the various plants. There was a huge body of folklore, and it was just erased: not even a hint by time my Mother was telling me about plants.

Sometimes when I plant herbs, they just die. Other times they hang on to life but do not grow. A bit more than three years ago I bought a Bee Balm Plant, (Monarda didyma) at Lowe's. I put it in a nice big pot with good soil and sat it in the sun and kept it watered; the best I can say about it is that it did not die. The only point of this particular member of the Mint family is that it has nice flowers. The fragrance is not too good. After giving it about a year and nothing happening, I planted the Bee Balm in a little side garden to live or die on its own terms. There it sat for two years, spreading a bit like a ground cover but with never a flower. Then, this Spring, it made a move. By mid May it was four feet high with lots of the flowers that attract bees. Very cool to see: I am glad I gave it time and space. This is how the plant looked after three years. This is how it looked after three years and four months. Why it called Bee Balm. A random knife just because this is a knife forum!